Red Roof returning to roots in Columbus

Thursday

After a few years on the road, Red Roof Inn again will make its bed in central Ohio.

After a few years on the road, Red Roof Inn again will make its bed in central Ohio.

The hotel chain that Columbus businessman James R. Trueman founded 35 years ago said yesterday it will return its corporate headquarters to Columbus. Its move to the Brewery District early next year eventually will result in about 80 new jobs.

Red Roof had been located in a Dallas suburb after being acquired by Accor SA, Europe's largest hotel company, in 1999. Accor sold Red Roof in June to a partnership that includes Citigroup and a hospitality investment fund managed by a franchisee of InterContinental Hotels Group.

The sale opened the door to the move, and Columbus was the logical location because the company maintained an operations and training center here. But the homecoming also is a "testament" to Trueman, who rented out the first Red Roof room for $8.50 in 1973, said Andrew Alexander, Red Roof senior vice president and general counsel.

Trueman, a racing aficionado who paved the way for Bobby Rahal's career, died of cancer in 1986 shortly after Rahal won the Indianapolis 500.

"Some of the employees have been here 20-plus, 30-plus years," Alexander said. "Jim Trueman's dedication is part of the reason for the return to the roots."

Red Roof plans to lease 23,600 square feet of space at 605 S. Front St., an office building at Brewer's Yard. It will move in during the first quarter of 2008, bringing 45 workers to the site, most of them current employees. About 80 jobs will be added in the next two years, Alexander said.

The cachet of regaining a lost headquarters as well as a known quantity in Red Roof reflects well on central Ohio, Columbus Chamber President Ty Marsh said.

"It emphasizes the strength of Downtown as a corporate location," he said. "It sends a great message about Columbus and our region."

Red Roof is a heavyweight in the economy hotel market, fetching $1.3 billion for Accor.

"When Accor took it over, it lost a little bit of its market share," said Eric Belfrage, a vice president with CB Richard Ellis Hotels Group. "But now that we've got a local entity focusing on it, they're going to be able to gain it back."

Alexander said Red Roof will maintain its training center at 121 E. Nationwide Blvd., which is adjacent to its Downtown hotel. Red Roof has eight hotels in central Ohio.

Columbus and the state of Ohio each offered the lodging company incentives.